Last year, I wrote an article defining the Six C’s of marketing. While similar to the 4 P’s we all learned in undergrad, it takes somewhat of a different approach and focuses more on the marketing communication strategies of a company. The six C’s,  while not published in any text book or anything are as follows:

• Customer
• Consistency
• Creativity
• Culture
• Communication
• Change

I failed to take into consideration one important element when I came up with this idea many months ago; and guess what? It also starts with a “C” and it’s referred to as Community Management, which is essential to social media marketing. Participation in social media is more than just hosting a blog, adding social bookmarks to it and creating a profile in Myspace and Facebook. It’s about managing a community of users; engaging in conversations with them and rewarding the most valuable ones. Community management is about fostering, growing, and cultivating strong communities within in your organization. Why? Because I believe that it’s the community that can make or break a brand (both online and offline).

With the exponential growth of social media across all verticals; and the fact that it’s now becoming an integral part of marketing strategies, community management is something that should not be overlooked.

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